


Unrequited

by Indig0



Series: DBH Rare Pairs Weeks [9]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Parent Amanda (Detroit: Become Human), CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60 Has a Different Name, Human AU, M/M, Probably the only good relationship Sixty has, Unrequited Crush, connor is a good brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 21:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20589734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indig0/pseuds/Indig0
Summary: When Amanda turns down his suggestion that they go to the robotics convention, Sixty musters up the courage to ask his crush instead.Amanda is a good adviser, but a bad mother.Connor has all the good luck in the family.Elijah's just looking to kill some time.Sixty has the worst luck with people.(DBH Rare Pairs week prompt:  College AU/Unrequited)





	Unrequited

“Mom, I got tickets to that robotics convention we were talking about. If you’re still interested.”

“Oh – Shawn, I’m sorry, you know Elijah just finished his big project.”

“I know, you mentioned that.” Sixty turned away to hide the face he was making. “I just thought we could stop by for a while. An hour, maybe?”

“I’m going to be busy all weekend, I don’t have time to spare. I’m sorry, we can do something another time.”

“I – okay.” He watched her walk away, and his shoulders slumped. “See you later.”

She didn’t answer. The conversation had been over anyway. He’d try again some time.

Elijah Kamski was brilliant. His work in robotics and AI was miles above anyone in the field, and he was still in school. And he was so funny. And his glasses made him look even cuter. And his laugh was just amazing. And he wore clothes that would make anyone else look like a slob, but he would look good in anything.

“How’s your boyfriend, Sixty?” Connor asked, grinning.

“Shut up.” The younger twin shoved him halfheartedly.

“No, you’d be cute together.”

“I said shut up! How’s – how’s your… _your_ boyfriend!?”

“Doing great, I’m having dinner with his family this weekend,” Connor said brightly. “Do you want to come?”

“No.” He sighed. “I invited Amanda to the robotics convention and she said it sounded interesting, so I bought tickets, and… she’s busy.”

“You should invite Elijah,” Connor said, grinning.

“He – I…” Sixty stopped, frowning.

“It’s right up his alley. You know he just finished a big project so he might have some free time.”

“I… I don’t know, it’s… do you think he’d want to?”

“Sure! I think you should ask, at least.” Connor paused and clasped Sixty’s shoulder, meeting his eyes. “Sixty. Go for it.”

“I thought you hated Elijah.”

“He’s a creep, and if he actually did anything to hurt you I’d punch his teeth in. But you should go after what you want. And anyway, Amanda would be furious. …And anything we can do to make it clear she’s never getting grandchildren, we should absolutely do.”

Sixty sighed. “Well you’re right about that, at least…”

Elijah was walking out of the convenience store, sipping a huge blue raspberry slushie, when Sixty jogged up.

“Hey! Elijah?”

“Oh – Shawn, right?”

“It’s – it’s Sixty, I go by Sixty. Amanda’s the only one who calls me Shawn, I hate it.”

“Sorry.” Elijah smirked.

“Uh – so, I’ve got tickets to the robotics convention this weekend… I thought… maybe you’d like to go with me? If you’ve got some time?”

Kamski stared at him, and Sixty could feel him analyzing him. Finally he shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind checking it out for a little while, I guess.”

“Great!” Sixty breathed, grinning. “Um – eleven? Is that okay?”

“Sure, I’ll meet you there.”

Sixty spent hours picking out the right thing to wear, and showed up at the front entrance to the convention center half an hour early. He scanned the crowd, adjusting his jacket. He’d tried a few blazers, but decided they were too formal. He’d mostly seen Elijah in casual clothes, but he himself enjoyed dressing nicely. But the environment was casual. But he wanted to set the mood a little. A mood that was fun and friendly and… maybe a little more than friendly. Well, open to that at least. He wouldn’t push things.

But still. He’d checked himself in the mirror until Connor made him leave, and he made jeans and a T shirt look damn good.

It was 11:20, and Sixty was going out of his mind with anxiety, embarrassment, and fury. Elijah had agreed to meet him. At eleven. They’d agreed, face to face. Elijah Kamski had said, to Sixty’s face, with his own mouth –

“Oh, you’re here already.”

Sixty jumped back, hit the wall, and scrambled to keep his footing. Elijah was right in front of him, smiling a slightly self-deprecating crooked smile. It was awfully hard to be mad at that smile.

“Hi! Yeah, I – I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“It sounded interesting. I would have loved to go to something like this when I was growing up.”

Sixty’s smile froze for a second. “Oh, me too! I was in robotics club in high school, we usually won. My… mom taught us a lot about robotics when we were growing up.”

“That must have been great.” Elijah shook his head, looking around as they stepped in and Sixty exchanged tickets for wristbands. “I can only imagine having such a supportive, stimulating environment to grow up in.”

Sixty stopped for a second, then continued walking behind him. Should he offer sympathy? Bring up how unsupported he’d always felt? Release the constant wellspring of resentment that seemed to bubble up whenever he spoke to someone? He’d end up repelling Elijah, like he did everyone who thought Amanda was God’s gift to robotics.

“It… it wasn’t… quite like that,” he mumbled.

“Hm?” Elijah turned to him.

“Oh, um… I just… I’m sure she’s… different as an advisor and mentor than a parent.”

“Well, it’s a different relationship. She’s been more supportive to me than my family ever was. I owe her everything.”

Sixty’s stomach turned. Change the subject, stick to safer things, they had plenty in common. He pushed ahead.

“This is a lot like a project I did when I was 18,” he spoke up, pointing to an aquatic rescue model. “I made one that could move steadily through rough water.”

“Hm, those are good. I made a wireless gesture-controlled robot when I was 18. They existed before of course, but I wanted one that could mimic the level of fine motor dexterity of a human. Once it had that kind of ability, it was just a matter of connecting an AI to the body. That took some time to perfect, but when my project gets funding, I think the results will speak for themselves.”

“A… wow, really?”

“Shaped like humans – mostly. There’s definitely a market for other types, but one step at a time, right?” He grinned sharply.

“Oh, of course. Uh. I… think the ad said they had some AI demonstrations here too.”

They meandered through the exhibition, and Sixty noticed that Elijah tended to keep his head down, to skirt the crowd. He tried to place himself between Elijah and the mob of people when he could.

“There’s no practical application for that,” Elijah muttered aside to him as they walked around.

“Looks like they forgot to check their math somewhere around the 63rd line of code,” he snickered. 

Sixty covered a laugh. “What do you think about AI gaining independence?”

Kamski turned, his eyes gleaming, and he launched into a long monologue about independent thought, choice, even emotion in artificial intelligence. Sixty nodded through the whole thing, giving one-word answers now and then, just taking it all in.

“Sorry, I’m rambling.” Elijah smirked. “Are you still with me?”

“Oh – yes, of course! I’m a robotics major, I get it.” Bits that were over his head, he managed to get with context. “I just – you’re incredible.” He knew he was blushing.

“Well. It’s one of my favorite topics, it’s been in the back of my mind for years. That’s going to be the focus of my next project, it’ll be groundbreaking. I’ve talked to Amanda about it a little, but it’s good to talk to someone who isn’t in the industry.”

“Um – yeah. Oh, yeah, no, I’m happy to listen. Any time.” Sixty smiled shyly.

“This isn’t the kind of thing I’d normally go to, so I was curious. It’s really nice that it can draw in both children and adults. Of course a lot of the demonstrations are hilariously dumbed-down to the point that they’re almost no longer accurate, but…” He shrugged.

“Ah… well… I guess it’s meant to get the general public interested,” Sixty said, glancing around nervously. He hadn’t noticed any inaccuracies.

“I guess so, but I hate to see people lured into the field on false pretenses.” Elijah smiled thinly.

Sixty nodded. “Um – hey, are you hungry?”

Elijah tipped his head. “Hm, I could eat. I forget about that a lot.”

“What do you feel like? There’s pizza, burgers, Thai, Chinese… Have you been to that Korean taco place down the street?”

He checked his phone. “Um – that sounds great, but I think I’ll just grab something to go and head home. I’ve got family coming by later tonight, and I need some time alone before that.” He smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Oh – sure! No, I totally understand. Uh, let’s get out of here, then.”

The two walked out together, and out to the parking lot across the street.

“I, uh… It was really nice to see you. Maybe we could go somewhere quieter next time.” Sixty smiled apologetically. “I didn’t realize it’d be so packed in there.”

Elijah smiled back thinly. “Yeah, I’ll… I’ll see you around, Shawn. Sixteen, sorry.”

“…Sixty, actually. I – look, I… I’d really love to hang out more, I think you’re so interesting, and…”

“Look, I appreciate it, but I’m really busy. Say hi to your mom for me.” Elijah gave a small wave and headed out to find his car.

Sixty opened his mouth, but his throat closed up and he watched the genius walk away silently. It took him a few minutes before he turned and slowly started walking to the bus stop. It wasn’t too late to call Connor, but he couldn’t think of anything worse than having to sit through a meal with two people in love surrounded by a loving family.


End file.
